My son-in-law is a builder, having built multiple houses from foundation to finish, beautiful family dwelling places where families gather in comfort. I never cease to be amazed at the skill it takes to put together such a structure. I simply cannot imagine doing such a thing; and when I read the instructions God gave to build the tabernacle and later the temple in the Old Testament, my mind is simply boggled. I am glad for, and indebted to, craftsmen and women who are endowed with those special abilities.
Most of us will not be called upon to build a house, but probably all of us have been (or currently are) involved in building a home. Solomon spoke of the building of a house, the chambers of which would be filled with all precious and pleasant riches. (Prov. 24:3,4) He was talking about a home wherein abide people, family; a home that is built by wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. A young serviceman and his family were living in a hotel near the military base where he was temporarily stationed. One day his little girl was playing house in the lobby the of hotel when a lady asked, “Isn’t it too bad you don’t have a home?” The child replied, “Oh, we have a home, we just don’t have a house to put it in.”
What is a Christian home? Harold Bosley, church leader and author, offered this answer: “It is one in which the ideals for living found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ are accepted, exalted, and exemplified.”
To build a Christian home, one must first and foremost build a Christian life. The oldest of all institutions ordained of God is the home, designed by the Creator to last a lifetime. Most of us intend, when we begin a home, to make it that which will last for the rest of our lives. For example, 3,000 teens were surveyed as to their dreams and expectations of a marriage that would last for all their days; 90% of the girls and 85% of the boys affirmed that their hopes in marriage were anchored in the “til death do us part” commitment.
Yet, we are all aware that about half of all marriages today will terminate not with death but divorce. It was never intended to be thus. Some of the most common culprits for the breakup of families are extramarital affairs, financial stresses, incompatibility, selfishness, and a lack of 100% commitment and effort on the part of one or both parties. In Proverbs 24:3,4 Solomon isolated three key ingredients necessary for the building of a home that would stand the tests of troubles and time: wisdom, understanding and knowledge.
First, wisdom is needed in laying the foundation so that our RESOLVES will be right. Married couples will be called upon to make myriad decisions in laying the right foundation for their home—especially decisions concerning worship, both at home and in a local church, where fellowship with believers of like precious faith is a must. (Roughly three in four children reared in a home where both parents attend church remain faithful in their faith as adults.)
Then, wisdom is a must for a right resolve in our walk—a walk in light, love, and circumspection. (Eph. 4:1; 5:2,15) We will need wisdom for a right resolve in our home concerning our witness, and a right resolve pertaining to our relationship to the world and all that is therein.
Finally, wealth is another area that requires wisdom. What is our attitude toward riches? Will we be faithful in the stewardship of material things that God entrusts to our management? Many incoming college students in this age have indicated that their first goal is to gain financial wealth and/or get a “high paying” job. It is a materialistic age. Rudyard Kipling spoke wisely to this here-and-now view of riches and wealth when he said: “Someday, you will meet a person who cares for none of these (material) things. Then you will know how poor you are.”
John D. Rockefeller learned early in life how to earn money, and he drove himself to the limit. He earned his first million at the age of 33, and 10 years later he controlled the biggest company in the world. By the time he was 53, he had become the world’s first billionaire. Then he developed a rare sickness; lost his hair, eyelashes, and eyebrows; lost weight; and became a shrunken man. His weekly income was a million dollars, but he could only digest milk and crackers. It is said that he was so hated in Pennsylvania that he had to have bodyguards day and night. He could not sleep, and he was never seen smiling. Doctors predicted that he would not live more than a month; newspapers prepared his obituary. But, those sleepless nights set him to thinking, taking inventory of his past and present, giving thought too of his future. He knew that he would not take a dime out of this world, so he decided to help churches and charities with his vast wealth. He established the Rockefeller Foundation to advance medical research, leading in time to the discovery of penicillin. He began to sleep again, eat, and enjoy life. Whereas his doctors predicted he would not live to see his 54th birthday, John D died at the age of 98! He had gotten—the hard way—some wisdom!
Are you a homebuilder? What kind of a home are you building? Is your foundation Jesus Christ? Are you asking Him for wisdom? He says that if any man lack wisdom, he need only ask God, who giveth to all men liberally. (James 1:5 ) We need wisdom for a right resolve in matters of our worship, our walk, our witness, our relationship to the world, and our wealth. May our Father in heaven give us the wisdom that is required to build a home for the house in which we live. And may our homes—for better, for worse, through sickness and in health, for richer, for poorer—reflect God’s wise ways in all things pertaining to life and godliness.
“Except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.” (Ps.127:1)
YOU and GOD 